Lower 48 Adventures: Exploring One State at a Time

[Ryan Rogers]

Can you tell me your experience with the airbags? I am still on the fence if I should buy a custom leaf pack, or go helper air bags. My main concern with air bags is limited suspension articulation, and reliability. I don't want to sacrifice articulation in any way, and I also don't want a bag failure out deep on a trail somewhere. As of now, I am leaning towards a custom leaf pack for reliability.

Weight and reliability are huge concerns for me during this whole upcoming build (being in racing my whole professional career, it is ingrained in everything we do). I know the negative handling effects of having a high spring rate in the rear of the vehicle while leaving the front close to stock rate, especially without anti-roll bars hooked up. I am going to try to minimize the amount of additional weight added to the rear of the vehicle, and try to even the weight from front to rear. My hope is that I can move up spring rates equally (or as close as possible) front and rear to negate any odd handling woes. After our trip is over, I figured I could always switch back to my current spring set up to make day to day driving easier.

I wish I had more info for you, but mine just showed up via UPS a day ago.

I spent some time digging around as I was making the same decision you are. After a couple trips this summer, I realized Xterra squat is definitely a thing, and it needed addressing...especially when pulling the trailer. I didn't want to go with different leafs because most of the time the thing isn't loaded down, and I don't want to sacrifice ride. I found a thread on thenewX.org (I think) where the guy was installing the Firestone bags, and he showed the wheel unweighted and the bag was not stretched to it's end, meaning that (I think...I'm definitely not an expert) I should have full (or almost full) articulation if the bags are deflated.

Plus, if you have a bag failure, you just deflate the other one and you basically still have stock suspension.

I'm sure I'm going to give up a little off road, but the X can do things way beyond my off road capabilities already (I accidentally found this out this summer in CO...the X totally made me look like a hero on a trail I had no place being on), so I think it'll be okay. Plus, I'm not sure if you would maintain articulation with a new leaf pack, anyway would you? I really don't know.

 

[kenaero]

Gear


Cursed I phone photos, its straight in the computer! Here is my rig for exploring, will need a warmer tent though. Got a little cold for me that night.:Wow1:

 

[trijv]

View attachment 367608
Cursed I phone photos, its straight in the computer! Here is my rig for exploring, will need a warmer tent though. Got a little cold for me that night.:Wow1:

kenaero, hope you do not mind. I downloaded the pic and turned it rightside up.....

 

[trijv]

Sheller73, nice setup and good looking X! Looks a lot like what we have planned. We are going to replace the Bison cooler with an ARB Fridge/Freezer real soon, but we are trying to lock down the exact size that we want and can fit with all of our other gear. Both a portable solar panel and possibly a solar generator are on my inquiry list, just have to do some more research.

For destinations, we are looking to go everywhere. Our plan is to visit all lower 48 states, and at least have a meal there to qualify as visiting. In January 2018 when we set off, we are most likely going to start in the southeast and slowly make our way to Florida, stopping off in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi along the way. Spend a month checking out the southeast making it down to the Florida Keys, and then start to head north again as the weather warms up in the rest of the country. Living out of a roof top tent, we are going to be chasing warmer temperatures. Once it warms up, we may B-line it over to the western United States and explore all those areas. THEN when fall hits, pin it to east coast again to check out the fall foliage. Everything is still up in the air, but as of now, that is our rough plan.

We have a partial destinations list on our website right now. The list is being constantly updated as we discover more areas we want to visit.

Hi Ryan-

Are you looking for suggestions of places to go? I might have a few for your family and you to look at.

 

[Kgh]

Stay in touch when you get to the keys. We have a house there on the water, parking, and AC! You will need it.

 

[RyanHeller]

Hi Ryan-

Are you looking for suggestions of places to go? I might have a few for your family and you to look at.

We are fully open to suggestions. The farther off the beaten path, the better!

Stay in touch when you get to the keys. We have a house there on the water, parking, and AC! You will need it.

Will do! Thanks!

 

[trijv]

We are fully open to suggestions. The farther off the beaten path, the better!

Hi Ryan-

Some places I would recommend:

-Great Basin National Park
* After Grand Canyon, Zion, etc
* VERY deserted park (one of the least visited parks in lower 48)
* Take a hike to see the bristlecone pine trees (one of the oldest living organisms on the planet)
* A "dark place" in the USA (very little light pollution so get to see incredible night sky views)

- Steens Mountain in SE Oregon
* Also the whole SE Oregon area (Fields, Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge)
* Take a nice drive on the back roads of Oregon

- Wallowa-Whitman National Forest
* Snake River canyon/Hell's Canyon
* Look to see about camping in the area. Couple nice places to see

- Northern Washington state, Idaho, Montana
* Try to avoid US 2. It is a cool highway to drive across the country, but it takes you away from scenic places in the northern parts of these states

I cannot recall if you said you were doing UP of Michigan. If no, I would suggest you consider it.

 

[Tread-on]

Just found this thread and doing the lower 48 is in my bucket list... but could only do it when schools out... definitely following this. Keep the post coming - I'm taking NOTES..

 

[RyanHeller]

Hi Ryan-

Some places I would recommend:

-Great Basin National Park
* After Grand Canyon, Zion, etc
* VERY deserted park (one of the least visited parks in lower 48)
* Take a hike to see the bristlecone pine trees (one of the oldest living organisms on the planet)
* A "dark place" in the USA (very little light pollution so get to see incredible night sky views)

- Steens Mountain in SE Oregon
* Also the whole SE Oregon area (Fields, Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge)
* Take a nice drive on the back roads of Oregon

- Wallowa-Whitman National Forest
* Snake River canyon/Hell's Canyon
* Look to see about camping in the area. Couple nice places to see

- Northern Washington state, Idaho, Montana
* Try to avoid US 2. It is a cool highway to drive across the country, but it takes you away from scenic places in the northern parts of these states

I cannot recall if you said you were doing UP of Michigan. If no, I would suggest you consider it.

Awesome! We will definitely have to check out these areas. We haven't looked into the Michigan Upper Peninsula but we are now interested. Can you recommend a month or season that is the best time to visit?

 

[RyanHeller]

It is truly amazing how many events took place in two weeks since our last post. Let’s get right into it!

The first and most major update is; we have a new addition to the family! Our little Adeline was born October 6, weighing 8lbs. 0oz. and measuring at a lengthy 21". Both mom and baby are doing great! The little girl was delivered around 7:30pm and we were all back home resting at 11:00 that night. Sarah absolutely rocked the natural birth game and dare I say, I think she is ready for another. Adjusting to life with a newborn has been interesting, but both of us have adapted really well to the lack of sleep and learning how to multi-task while wearing a baby.

Over the past few months, I have been speaking with various brands and manufacturers trying to find great people and companies to partner with that truly share our passion for adventure and the outdoors. We found that with Freespirit Recreation. Freespirit Recreation, based out of Bend, Oregon, manufacture innovative roof top tents and rugged, lightweight uni-body design offroad trailers. Sarah and I recently took delivery of our new medium sized FSR Series Canopy tent, and look forward to testing it out before our yearlong trip. Through our partnership with FSR, we have become the premier dealer of their roof top tent line in the southwest United States. We are looking forward to working with Freespirit Recreation for many years to come.

If having a newborn child and learning how to care for it wasn’t enough, this past weekend we decided to take our first road trip with little Adeline. A few months ago, we signed Habitat Offroad up to be a supporting vendor of the Texas Avid Outdoors Expo held on October, 16 in Austin, Texas. So the Friday before the show we took delivery of our FSR tent and awning, Saturday I spent the entire day prepping the Xterra for the show, and loading up an assortment of gear to display. Our plan was to wake up around 5a.m. Sunday morning and be on the road by 6a.m. with our arrival being 9:30a.m. in Austin. Between loading up additional gear, feeding a baby, and stopping at Buc-ee’s halfway for another feeding, we arrived at the Expo around 10:45a.m. We quickly setup our booth, and went to town. We had a great response from everyone we met, showcased our great products and really enjoyed the conversations we had with people about their adventures and vehicles.

To conclude, we have enjoyed a busy few weeks and look forward to seeing what else comes our way. We are continuing to plan our trip, rearrange finances, and promote our small business to help us offset our living expenses during our excursion. Keep throwing your comments and suggestions our way, we greatly appreciate them.

 

[Ashton]

Checking in on your status and seeing if that trip started in Jan 2018 as planned?

 

[umpqua]

Checking in on your status and seeing if that trip started in Jan 2018 as planned?

Kinda went dark.

 

[the deputy]

Personally, l'd ditch all of the oil (besides one quart), gear lube (you can buy this stuff anywhere) and baby stroller. Your newborn will be light enough to carry, obviously switching duties off from time to time, or use a baby sling/pouch/backpack style approach.

Don't see a tent in your gear, so l assume you'll be sleeping inside (or maybe I missed an alternative arrangement). If you are sleeping inside, you will most definitely need an awning or canopy...because it is going to rain at some point during your trip...and sometimes for days on end...and the inside of that rig is going to get mighty small feeling. Also, having a small tarp to throw down on the ground, helps eliminate dirt inside your rig.

Took my grandson (10 yrs old) on a three day rough camping trip, where we slept inside the rover (sleeping platform with storage below and roof-rack for storage also) and on those mornings when it was 20-something outside and we hung inside longer than normal...l'm glad we had the extra room. We moved each day, whereas, l'm trying to figure out what to do and what not to carry...for longer excursions. These types of things are almost like evolution in progress, finding out what works and what doesn't.

You mentioned the possibilities of a trailer...l vote for that also. There are just so many items that you'll need to carry, but only use occasionally...especially considering there will be four occupants.

Anyhow, just some thoughts. Looking forward to following along.

Brian.

 

[concretejungle]

My only comment other than best of luck; is why with all the prep and gear don't you get a fridge? I would not be wanting to deal with ice, finding ice, melting ice, ruined food, ect... A fridge is about two Yeti coolers, and it's totally worth it.

 

[RacerAV]

Subbed for more! Updates???